


A Soft Place to Land

by CityofEmeralds



Series: Such Pretty Forks in the Road [3]
Category: 9-1-1 (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Foster Family, Athena Grant and Bobby Nash are Evan "Buck" Buckley's Parents, Family Bonding, Found Family, Gen, Kid!Buck, Kid!Maddie, Pillow & Blanket Forts, firefam - Freeform, grant-nash family
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-08
Updated: 2021-03-08
Packaged: 2021-03-14 17:47:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,561
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29920548
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CityofEmeralds/pseuds/CityofEmeralds
Summary: Saturday night isn't complete without comforters, cards and cuddles.
Relationships: Bobby Nash & Grant Family, Evan "Buck" Buckley & Bobby Nash, Harry Grant & Bobby Nash, Harry Grant & Evan "Buck" Buckley
Series: Such Pretty Forks in the Road [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1895476
Comments: 2
Kudos: 37





	A Soft Place to Land

**Author's Note:**

> This is the third work in this series. It's recommended that you read Such Pretty Forks in the Road and The Fabric of Life before reading this fic. 
> 
> In this universe, Bobby and Athena are fostering the Buckley siblings after the death of their mother. The children's ages have been changed — Maddie (16), May (15), Harry (9), Buck (5).

Buck bounded through the household, practically vibrating with excitement. His teeth were brushed and he was dressed in his favourite pair of cowboy themed pajamas. 

Bobby, Harry and Buck were about to commence their super special awesome boys night. With Maddie and May studying for final exams and Athena away at a policing conference, it was the perfect time for the guys to hang out together. 

When Buck arrived in the living room, he found Bobby and Harry waiting for him. 

“What would you like to do tonight?” the captain asked, posing the question to both boys. 

Buck shrugged, looking to Harry for guidance. Luckily, the older boy had an idea, “We could make a fort!” 

“I don’t know, Harry,” Bobby hesitated. “You know how your mom gets when people mess up her living room.”

“But mom won’t be back till tomorrow, so we'll have lots of time to clean up. Come on, Bobby. Please?” Harry begged, a pout forming on his lips. He nudged Buck not-so-subtly with his elbow and then gestured towards Bobby, indicating that he needed backup. In response, Buck put on his cutest face and gazed upwards at Bobby, making sure to bat his eyelashes for optimal impact. 

“Yeah, alright,” Bobby caved, agreeing with Harry. 

“Yes!” Harry shouted, pumping his fist into the air. Buck thought that Harry looked pretty cool, so he decided to copy the same movement.

“Okay, what’s the game plan?” 

“Ummm...well, first we need to find pillows and blankets and bean bags and other soft stuff. Then, we've gotta get chairs to make the walls and a big sheet for the roof,” Harry said all in one breath. 

“Sounds like you’ve got this all figured out,” Bobby chuckled. “Alright, why don’t the two of you grab the building materials, while I move the chairs and we’ll meet back here in a few minutes?”

Both boys nodded eagerly as they parted ways. 

Buck raced into his room, ripped the comforter and sheets off of his bed and rolled them into a large mound. He waddled back down the hallway with a mountain of fabric weighing heavily in his arms. After depositing the load, he decided it was time to venture into Maddie’s room. 

As he passed through the threshold, he found his sister sitting at her desk. She was staring at a textbook and appeared deep in thought. 

“Maddie!” Buck squealed, loudly, “Guess what?” 

Maddie peeled her eyes away from her work for a second, “What?” 

“We’re making a fort!” 

“That’s cool, Buck,” she murmured, halfheartedly. 

Buck could tell that Maddie was distracted but that didn’t bother him at all. He just steamrolled right through the awkwardness and onto his request. 

“Can I borrow your blanket?” 

“Yeah, sure. You can grab the blue one that’s on the bed.” 

Buck beamed with delight. He hurried across the room and grabbed the blanket. 

“You’re the best, Mads!”

“Yeah, yeah. Have fun,” she said, smiling for the first time since Buck had entered the room.

“We will!” He yelled before scampering down the hallway. 

Entering the living room, he saw that four chairs had already been arranged in a large square, forming the base of the fort. Bobby and Harry were in the process of draping a large sheet over the top, which would be secured to the chairs with old telephone books.

“I got some more blankets,” the five year old announced. 

Bobby gazed proudly at Buck, “Good job, kid. Why don’t you work on the inside of the fort, while we finish the outside?”

Buck was happy to accept his assigned task. He carefully arranged the couch cushions around the perimeter of the fort creating makeshift walls. It took him a couple of tries to get all of the cushions standing up straight and positioned just the way he wanted. He proceeded to line the inside of the fort with blankets, pillows and bean bag chairs, creating a soft place to lounge. When he emerged from the structure, he saw that Bobby and Harry had finished the roof. He stared at the blanket fort in awe. It was the coolest thing that he had ever seen. 

“Is it done? Is it done?” Buck screeched, bursting with enthusiasm. He couldn't wait to play! After about two seconds, he ran out of patience and darted towards the fort. He had almost made it inside, when he slipped on the tile flooring. Buck flailed his arms wildly in an attempt to regain his balance. Fortunately, he was far enough away from the structure because otherwise, he would have accidentally torn it down. 

“You alright?” Bobby asked, warmly, placing his hand gently on Buck’s shoulder. 

Buck nodded, steadying himself. He breathed out a sigh of relief, thankful that he hadn't ruined their hard work. 

As soon as everything was ready, the three boys piled inside. Bobby sat on a beanbag chair, while Harry and Buck perched on pillows. 

“What should we play?” Harry asked, pointing to a few games that were laying just outside of the fort. 

“Uno?” Buck suggested, quietly. He had learned how to play the game last week. It was a little bit tricky for him to understand, given that there were so many rules to remember, but he tried his best.

Harry agreed with the suggestion and happily grabbed Uno. He dealt out the cards, making sure that everyone received the correct amount. Then, he placed the deck in the centre of the fort and flipped over the top card. The boys took turns trying to get rid of as many red, green, yellow and blue cards as possible. Before long, Bobby had emerged in the lead with only three cards remaining in his hand. When his next turn came around, he was forced to draw a new card. As soon as he flipped it over, a smile appeared on his face and instead of adding it to his hand, he placed it down before ending his turn. 

“Hey, that’s not allowed!” Harry protested. 

“Actually, if you read the official instructions that accompany the game, you’ll find that you can immediately play a card that you’ve drawn from the pile.”

Harry looked unimpressed by Bobby’s know-it-all statement. “How do you even know that?” 

“Well, when I was younger, I went to a…” 

Buck zoned out for a moment, needing to figure out his next move. His small, pink tongue poked out of his mouth, as he concentrated on the cards in front of him. 

Suddenly, Buck was pulled out of his thoughts when Harry exclaimed, “Your hands are bleeding!” 

Buck dropped his cards in haste and held his hands out in front of him. He turned them over a few times but couldn’t see any blood. 

“No, no,” Harry giggled, “I don’t mean real blood. It just means that I can see your cards. You’ve just gotta hold’em closer to your chest.”

Buck’s eyes grew wide as his mouth went slack. He had never heard that expression before! Quickly picking up his cards, he brought them towards his body, attempting to keep them hidden. He didn’t want anyone else to know what cards he had.

The game continued. Buck was having so much fun with his family. He was really proud of how well he had been playing tonight. He didn’t even get mad when Harry made him pick up two cards and skip his turn. 

Eventually, Harry hit a lucky streak, placing four cards down at once. “Uno!” he exclaimed, excitedly.

“Uh oh, Buck. It looks like Harry’s down to his last card.” 

“What do we do?” Buck asked, looking up at Bobby like he held all of the answers in the universe. 

The captain shook his head, “There’s not much we can do. You and I still have too many cards in our hands. It looks like Harry might win this round but I guess we’ll have to wait and see what happens.”

Lo and behold, the next time Harry’s turn came around, he slammed his final card on the ground. 

“Woohoo!” The boy celebrated, shimmying happily in his seat. 

Although Buck was kind of disappointed that he lost, he brushed it off like it wasn’t a big deal. Luckily, he was quickly distracted when Bobby asked if they wanted to play again. Both boys cheered in response, agreeing to Bobby’s suggestion. 

After their second round of Uno—which Bobby won—Buck’s eyes started to droop and his yawns became more and more frequent. He glanced around the makeshift fort looking for a soft place to rest. It had been a fun-packed day and he was absolutely exhausted. When his eyes landed on Bobby, he was struck with a brilliant idea. Without hesitation, Buck crawled through the fort and into Bobby’s lap. He felt the man stiffen ever so slightly but that didn’t deter him. Instead, he continued shifting around, trying to find a comfortable spot. Buck nestled into Bobby‘s chest, his ear pressing gently over Bobby’s heart. He heard some rustling within the fort and then felt something heavy—a blanket, maybe—drape over him. Buck released a sigh, soaking up the warmth that surrounded him. He could make out the hushed tones of Bobby and Harry talking near him, however, he tried his best to tune out the voices, as the steady rhythm of Bobby’s heartbeat lulled him to sleep.

**Author's Note:**

> Hi folks, 
> 
> I hope that you enjoyed seeing the boys bond over blanket forts and Uno! 
> 
> Just FYI: all of the future stories in this series will be random one shots featuring the Grant-Nash-Buckley family. If there are any ideas that you have for this series, feel free to mention them in the comments and I'll see what I can do!
> 
> ~CityofEmeralds


End file.
